Photographing the eclipse

The eclipse is coming and the hype is on. Personally, I have a feeling the hype will be bigger than the actual event, but who knows — I may be surprised. One thing I do know is that people will be outside watching it and many of them will be trying to photograph it. I can just see it now — people with their iPhones pointed toward the sky on Aug. 21 hoping to get a picture with their phone of the total eclipse.

My advice is to tread carefully when trying to photograph an eclipse. First ask yourself if you really want and need to photograph the eclipse. I think many people attempt to do so thinking they are going to get a fantastic photo. Chances are, however, that no one will get a fantastic photo unless they have the best in professional equipment and know exactly what they are doing.

But if you must, here’s a few don’t that I found online as I was doing research on photographing an eclipse.

First thing — don’t just stare up with your naked eye. Wear those glasses. Secondly, don’t think that looking at the eclipse through a camera lens is going to be safe. It isn’t. What’s more, it isn’t safe for your camera. Don’t point your camera at the sun without a special solar filter. I’m told these can be purchased at Rockbrook Camera in Lincoln and Omaha. Pointing the camera at the sun can be very harmful and damage the camera’s sensor.

I feel pretty safe in saying that even if you use such a solar sensor on your camera, you will be disappointed with the results. Personally, I think it’s better if you just look at the eclipse rather than messing around with a camera and trying to get a photo. You’ll see plenty of great photos in a variety of places — you don’t need your own. If you spend time figuring out how to take a photo, you may just miss the once-in-a-lifetime view of the eclipse yourself.